Clara's Friend
by DaggerStar
Summary: a sweet story about a scary tale


Mom and Dad always fight. I can't get away. They don't let me. After they yell and scream and hit, one of them tells me that everything is alright. I look into their eyes and know it's not. My house is always full of darkness. Shadows spread across walls of fighting and noise that rings like a bell in my ears.

One day, I left them. In what I'd hoped to be forever. I ran from my house of shadows into a forest I'd heard people call the **Dark Forest**. Well, it wasn't very dark at the moment. I ran deeper into the forest and it _did _get darker. I wondered how long I'd been away or if my parents were starting to worry. If they'd even noticed among their arguements. I stopped at a thick, giant tree. Must be some type of Redwood tree. My favorite. Standing so tall above the ground, towering above humans. They're so strong and independent. Unlike me. That's probably why I like them so much. There was a page on it that said 'NO EYES, ALWAYS WATCHING'. Weird teenagers pulling pranks.

I took out a banana and peeled it I was eating the smooshy banana, I heard a rustling in the distance. I wasn't scared. I don't fear monsters. I think they're just misunderstood. After finishing my banana, I tossed it into a trash bag inside my backpack and kept walking. It was a truly pretty forest. Full of flowy trees with green leaves and a perfect brown trunk. Every now and then, I would hear an owl _hoo-hooing_ or a squirrel rustling through a bush. So natural. Every so often, I'd see something out of the corner of my eye. Something darker than the night. But something whiter than day. I can't explain it. Not yet. I walked carefully through the mysterious forest. As I walked I tripped in a foot-hole. Falling to the ground, I caught onto some thorn bushes. I hit my head and blacked out on the cold, wet forest floor.

I woke up on a bedding of cloth. Soft cotton cloth and perfectly cleaned. I looked at my skin. All the thorns had been taken out of my skin. Gently, none the less. My skin was clean too. No dirt or blood. Just small punctures from the sharp thorns. When I felt the back of my head, all I felt was a netted gauze bandage and a pain only caused by a bloody bruise. The kind my mom described to me. The kind that had once covered her arms and glazed her head. Someone had cared for me while I slept. Someone had cleaned my wounds. The only thing that was missing was the person. I slowly spun my head in different directions. Nothing but the clearing blending into thousands of trees.

" You can come out. I won't be scared. I promise."

" No one keeps that promise with me."

There was no specific direction of where the voice was coming from. It was a soft voice. Calm and sweet and alone. But somehow deep in my mind. Was he mind-reading?

" I know how you feel sir. The pain of people ignoring you and hating you. Everyone thinking, that's the person no one talks to. I'll keep my promise."

" I have killed people. Many people. They think I'm scary, little child. As will you."

" I'd like to put that to a test if you don't mind sir."

I may only be 12, but I have had the sweet experience of almost being driven over the edge. I didn't care that he has killed people. I wanted to meet the man who'd cared for me so kindly. I saw a tree move. No not a tree, a tall man. Taller than any human I've seen. He's slender and has a elegant suit with a nice red tie. But the thing that suprised me the most was his face. It was pale white and gaunt. No eyes, nose, mouth. I could see what he really was.

" You're not a monsterous murderer. You're just a nice man full of sorrow and anger. You're misundertood. But I'm not scared. I come from a house of shadows and fighting. Please let me stay with you. You cared for me when I could have been left there on the cold leafy floor of the woods to die. Even if you're a murderer, you didn't kill me. That means something right?"

" I suppose it does. Small girl, what is your name?"

" Clara Emraln. Yours?"

" People call me Slenderman. Why do you let me in your mind young Clara? It's dangerous."

" So I can listen to your soft voice. A kind of voice I haven't heard in 9 years."

" Come young Clara. Come with me to my forest home. You can live with me. If you ever want to leave, just remember you're always welcome if the garden of shadows becomes to much for such a young soul."

I stayed with the Slenderman until I turned 18. Every year I had a small party for my birthday. The first birthday I had in the **Dark Forest**, I had to explain to the Slenderman what a birthday party is. He looked almost confused and when I asked him what time period he's from he said the late 1700s. At the time it was 1920. Each birthday Slenderman stole me a beautiful cupcake. He said people didn't see him, but I knew what it cost him. That's why I cherished each birthday with him. When I left him, tears stinged at my eyes and I ran up and hugged him. Slenderman had stiffened but softened and hugged back. I walked out of the forest and saw an old, tattered ripped wanted poster with a face on it. My face. I crumpled up the paper and tossed it in a garbage basket. I walked out onto the sidewalk and thought about Slenderman. I knew he might not have changed his ways but something changed in him. He wasn't full of anger and sorrow, but full of happiness and hope.


End file.
